The St. Louis Rams finished the 2010 season with a 7-9 record, and that is very respectable given how bad this team has been recently and that they were starting a rookie QB. With that being said they did not beat a lot of really good football teams, instead they won the games they should have. That is an important distinction, as they did lose to the Detroit Lions. 2010 was a good year for the Rams; they got themselves out of the NFL basement and can now build on their success.
The offense was led by rookie QB Sam Bradford and scored 289 points, or 18.1 points per game on average. That is a little low, and the problem seems to be the lack of a true number one wide out and deep threat. Sam completed 60% of his passes for 3,512 yards, 18 TD’s, and 15 INT’s. Those are not great numbers but remember he was a rookie. The running game behind him averaged 98.6 yard per game, and Sam was sacked 34 times.
There are some concerns on the defense as they gave up 328 points or 20.5 pointes per game on average. Their take away differential was +5 and that is a very good number given that they did start a rookie QB in all 16 games. This defense forced 22 fumbles and picked off 14 passes. They also sacked opposing QB’s 43 times. All in all not horrible, but not quite great.
Cleary the number one need is at Wide Out. They have several other top needs at OLB and CB. Really this team is much like the Detroit Lions, two teams that clawed their way out of the NFL cellar and are looking to build on those positive results. Of course the Rams have brought in Josh McDaniels to mentor young Sam and that may be a work in progress.
Related Links:
- St. Louis Rams news and notes
- The Business of the NFL
- Joshua Lobdell.com